Today:   FCC International Circuit Capacity Data, FCC Lifeline Eligibility Verifier Launched, FTC Hearings on Competition and Consumer Protection 

FCC International Circuit Capacity Data

The FCC’s International Bureau released circuit capacity data for U.S.-international submarine cables as of December 31, 2016.  The data includes cable capacity information for each cable system as well as each capacity holder.  Reported data includes information on available and planned capacity data for each submarine cable on an individual and regional basis; detailed capacity trend data for each international submarine cable; information regarding capacity holder data (i.e., cable capacity leased or owned) on a regional basis; and information regarding U.S.-international submarine cables’ landing points sorted by region, cable, and foreign landing point.

FCC Lifeline Eligibility Verifier Launched

The FCC announced that the National Lifeline Eligibility Verifier database (National Verifier) is now operational in Colorado, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming.  As of June 18, 2018, ETCs in these six states can begin using the National Verifier to verify the eligibility of consumers applying for Lifeline service. The launch is a so-called soft launch, which means that ETCs may begin using the National Verifier for eligibility determinations but may also continue to use existing eligibility determination processes.  This soft launch period will allow ETCs to become familiar with the National Verifier online portal before use of the National Verifier becomes mandatory. Only ETCs will have access to the National Verifier during the soft launch; consumers will be able to access the National Verifier at a later date once the hard launch takes place.

FTC Hearings on Competition and Consumer Protection

The Federal Trade Commission announced it will hold a series of public hearings on whether broad-based changes in the economy, evolving business practices, new technologies, or international developments might require adjustments to competition and consumer protection enforcement law, enforcement priorities, and policy. The multi-day, multi-part hearings, which will take place this fall and winter, will be similar in form and structure to the FTC’s 1995 “Global Competition and Innovation Hearings” under the leadership of then-Chairman Robert Pitofsky.  In advance of these hearings and through August 20, 2018, the FTC will accept public comments on a variety of topics including:

• Competition and consumer protection issues in communication, information, and media technology networks;
• The intersection between privacy, big data, and competition;
• The FTC’s remedial authority to deter unfair and deceptive conduct in privacy and data security matters;
• Evaluating the competitive effects of corporate acquisitions and mergers;
• The interpretation and harmonization of state and federal statutes and regulations that prohibit unfair and deceptive acts and practices.

The hearings will begin in September 2018 and are expected to continue through January 2019, and will consist of 15 to 20 public sessions.

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The Regulatory Mix, Inteserra’s daily blog of telecom related regulatory activities, is a snapshot of PUC, FCC, legislative, and occasionally court issues that our regulatory monitoring team uncovers each day. Depending on their significance, some items may be the subject of an Inteserra Briefing.